01.02.2012                      08.Schwat. 5772

Schwerer Aufstieg:

Israel, land of opportunity – restrictions may apply

The data on social and economic mobility in Israel is shocking: If you aren't born to the right parents, or can't land a job with a fat-cat monopoly, your chances of advancement are vanishingly small.

Michael Ben Sheetrit grew up in a poor, religiously observant family, in a poor neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, as one of 11 children with a father who did not work. At the age of 15, Ben Sheetrit transfered from his ultra-Orthodox yeshiva high school to a state school. He dropped out a year later, unable to close the gaps in his education in core subjects.
He ended up in Tiberias for a time, picking up temporary jobs as a waiter, a video store clerk and in a barber shop. Today, however, he is principal of the Branco Weiss technological school in Modi'in. He has an education degree and lives in a nice house….